When In Cambridge
During my recent visit to the UK, my friend Merrow from merrowstravelblog.com suggested that we visit Cambridge, the East region of England, for a full day trip. Merrow and I had recently met back in April on our trip to Jordan where we shared a tent together in the Wadi Rum desert.
The beauty of meeting strangers while traveling is the opportunity to forge great friendships with people that live on opposite ends of the earth. Merrow and I just wanted to spend time catching up while doing what we love – explore and learn about new places, take pictures and share our experiences with you.
The day started by taking the train from Kings Cross London to Cambridge. The ticket was appx. seventeen pounds and the ride was forty-five minutes to an hour. From Cambridge train station the city center is only walking distance away.
As we walked around the quaint little town, we oooh’ed and ahhh’ed at the magnificent architecture, rooted in rich history, privilege and prestige - home of and the Alma Mater to some of the world’s greatest thinkers.
While walking, punters (mostly university students) would stop us to ask if we wanted to purchase punting tickets. When it comes to hagglers, I instantly put on my New York attitude – thou shalt ignore hagglers, unless thouest really interested in what they’re selling. Apparently, that’s very rude and so Merrow would always respond.
No doubt, we were certainly interested in punting on the River Cams because what else do people do in Cambridge? However, we thought the prices quoted were too expensive and we were not sure if we wanted to self-punt or whether we preferred to punt with a group of strangers. We quickly learned that self-punting is not for the weak or faint-hearted. It is pretty difficult and require some sort of training. So If you’ve never been punting before I highly recommend going with a group for the first time to truly enjoy the experience.
As we were walking we saw a sign outside a church to see the university campuses from the best view in town. We ended up paying about four pounds to get up, much cheaper than I expected. Of course, I now know why it’s so cheap. There is no elevator or escalator to the church steeple, and the staircase is super duper narrow, which made it very difficult for people to pass each other.
We explored the college campuses, spending the most time at Kings College, visiting the chapel and the campus.
We then had lunch and decided afterwards to finally go punting. Punting generally cost between fifteen and twenty-five pounds.Thankfully, we got a cheaper punt and shared the ride with six other people. We bought strawberries from the farmers market and a bottle of Rose from the supermarket.
Our visit to Cambridge was a mixture of all things good. Good company, pure bliss, a bit of tipsyness and a sprinkle of perfection.
To add one cup full of perfection, we ended the day in London at Primose Hill where we met our friend Jonathan to catch-up, see the sunset and watch the moon rise above the Shard of Glass.
